Lana's famous flying boat

The Father of Aeronautics

Three hundred years ago in 1686 died the Father of Aeronautics, Fr. Francesco Lana-Terzi,
S.J., professor of physics and mathematics at Brescia. Histories of flight refer
to his work Prodromo dell'Arte Maestra
(1670) as the "the first publication to establish a theory of aerial navigation verified by mathematical
accuracy and clearness of perception".

Previous descriptions of flight were nothing more than myths and vague fantasies
whereas Lana's bold project was based on mathematical calculations and principles
of physics. His work was translated by the physicist Robert Hooke in 1690 and
was discussed by scientists throughout Europe for a century. It is no exaggeration to
say that Lana's ideas lay behind the devlopment of the balloon and led to the successful
flight of the Montgolfier brothers in 1783.

The histories of flight usually start with the first of the daring but foolhardy "tower
jumpers", Daedalus and Icarus, after which there may be mention of Joseph of Cupertino's
involuntary flights and then efforts of a few restless monks like Oliver of Malmesbury
who felt he would have succeeded if he had put on more tail feathers. After
this they give the details of the first serious attempt to bring science into the
program, the work of Francesco Lana usually highlighted by a picture of his air ship.
At the beginning of Lana's ambitious project, a compilaton of all science, is a collection
of the recent inventions.

Many of these are his own, such as a sewing machine,a
reading device for the blind,a language for deaf and dumb, long distance communication by cannon, heavier than air "flying chariot" and finally his lighter than air"aerial
ship". For the latter he drew on the recently invented vacuum pump of Boyle,
the experiments of Hooke, Torricelli and Otto von Guerick who demonstrated at Magdaburg that atmospheric pressure is so strong that it would take two teams of eight
horses to pull apart an evacuated sphere. Lana proposed using the principle of the
vacuum (up to then, abhorred by nature) which would make his aparatus lighter than
air and would float in the atmosphere. Unlike later balloonists who put something
into the balloon, Lana would take all air out. Although his device proved impractical
his principles were sound.

Belize Stamp commemorating Lana's flying boat

Lana depended on five such principles. First, it had recently been demonstrated with
the help of Robert Boyle's pump that air has weight. Secondly, the weight of the
air can be calculated just as can the weight of water. Third, nearly all air can
be exhausted from any vessel, as in the case of animal respiration. Fourth, from Euclid
he knew that the area of a sphere varies with the square of the diameter while the
volume (and therefore the mass) depends on the its cube. So if a sphere has a
large enough area it can have a predetermined mass of air inside. Finally, from Archimedes
he knew that ligher bodies float in heavier fluids.

From this Lana concludes that
one could construst a vessel which would weigh less than the air within and so when
the air had been pumped out the whole would float in the atmosphere. In fact if the
vessel were made large enough it could support the weight of a ship with passengers.
After caculating the weights and volumes involved the vessel he proposed consisted
of four large twenty five foot spheres made of thin sheet copper bound together and
supporting a basket for the riders with a sail and rudder for steering.
After a long discussion of these principles Lana answers the objections to his proposal.

First the problem of evacuating the air could be accomplished by Boyle's pump.
A second objection was that the air ship was liable to float off into outer space so that the riders would not be able to breathe. Lana shows unusual grasp of
aerostatics by replying that the ship would stop rising as soon as the density of
the atmosphere counter-balanced the weight of the ship. Landing the craft once
it is air-borne is guarenteed by installing a valve to let air into the four spheres as ballast
which would bring the ship back down to earth. The sail and a large rudder would
take care of steering the ship so that it would not be blown away. Later experiments proved that a sail would not be an effective steering device.

The most serious
problem Lana addresses and the one most scientists noticed was the fact that
the spheres would be crushed by the atmosphere when the air was pumped out. Lana's
answer was that the spherical shape would prevent it from being crushed because of
the perfect uniformity of a sphere somewhat as an eggshell resists uniform pressure
on its ends. He happened to be wrong in solving this last problem and so his
proposed ship never did succeed. His expectation of landing ease was too optimistic also:
"there is no need for ports since the balloon could land anywhere". Lana's treatment
was remarkably thorough for an era when experimental data was quite scarce.

Lana was not the only member of Ignatius Loyola's Society involved in flight

Lana's influence on speculation for flight was of long duration. For over a century
it was studied and discussed by scientists such as Sturm who had great praise for
the plan and by Leibniz who verified Lana's calculations. Berbardo Zamaga was
inspired to write a poem concerning Lana's "Navis Aeria".

Some 39 years later another Jesuit Bartholomeu Lourenco de Gusmao, S.J. from Brazil
did attempt to use hot air under a kind of umbrella, supporting a basket for riders,
in the presence of the king of Portugal (who paid for the experiment) and momentarily got off the ground but in doing so nearly set fire to the king's house.
"Fortunately the king did not take it ill". It would not be until 1783 that
the first successful ballon flight would take place.

Lana never built the airship he described for several reasons. The first was that
in his opinion God would never let such a dangerous innovation to succeed. His
description of aerial bombing and air-borne invasion by his ship as well troop carrier are very accurate and are among the classic anticipations of modern warfare.

"....that God would surely never allow such a machine to be successful, since it would
create many disturbances in the civil and political governments of mankind. Where
is the man who can fail to see that no city would be proof against his surprise,as
the ships at any time could be maneuvered over its public squares and houses? Fortreses,
and cities could thus be destroyed, with the certainty that the aerial ship could
come to no harm, as iron weights, fireballs and bombs could be hurled from a great
height."

Lana's second reason was more personal."...I would willingly have (built such a ship)before publishing these my inventions,
had not my vows of poverty prevented my expending 100 ducats , which sum at least
would be required to satisfy so laudable a curiosity".
The sentiment of the time was enthusiasm for flying for pleasure, honor and profit
and "the benefit of all mankind". "I hold it farre more honour to have been the first
flying man, than to bee another Neptune"
said Bishop Francis Godwin. Lana alone so much a scientist and man of his
own century saw the possible destruction of civilization. It is ironic that he
is at the head of the literature on the history of flight and is called the